LeBron James looks around the room at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas where USA Basketball is holding its Olympics press conference and he likes what he sees. It doesn’t matter that his Miami Heat buddies Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are not a part of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team because of injuries, and … [Read more…]
No Derrick Rose. No Dwight Howard. No Dwyane Wade. No Chris Bosh. Is USA Basketball in trouble? Hardly. The talent pool is still very deep and whomever the U.S. sends to London they will be heavily favored to win an Olympic gold medal. The team convenes in Las Vegas on July 5 to start training … [Read more…]
The San Antonio Spurs were not supposed to be this good this season. Tim Duncan is supposed to be too old, Manu Ginobili is supposed to be too injured, and the supporting cast is supposed to be unproven. If we keep ignoring the Spurs they may just make all of us look real silly. The … [Read more…]
The Los Angeles Clippers are obviously not the same team that went up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series against the Memphis Grizzlies. Their two best players, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, have been slowed by injuries and it has affected the entire complexion of the series. Paul has an injured hip flexor and sore groin, … [Read more…]
The Phoenix Suns are not known for being a physical team, and it’s even laughable seeing “Phoenix Suns” and “rough” in the same sentence. But against the Clippers on Thursday night, the Suns flexed their muscles and took down the Clips, 93-90, to keep their playoff hopes alive and, at the same time, put a … [Read more…]
Before we go completely gaga over Blake Griffin’s thunderous dunk (or throwdown) over Kendrick Perkins, let’s take a step back and avoid being a prisoner of the moment. Griffin’s aerial assault on Jan. 30 against the Oklahoma City Thunder was spectacular and deserved all the attention it received the past couple of days. But to … [Read more…]
USA Basketball recently announced the 20 finalists who will compete for the 12 spots on the senior men’s national team that will represent the U.S. in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Among the finalists are holdovers from the 2008 gold-medal winning team in Beijing: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, … [Read more…]
JaVale McGee was robbed! Not to take anything away from Blake Griffin, who had his moments during All-Star Saturday Night, but McGee’s dunks were far more difficult than what Griffin did for the whole event. I’ll even go a step further and argue that Serge Ibaka and DeMar DeRozan had more impressive dunks than Griffin. … [Read more…]
As soon as LeBron James made his infamous “I’m taking my talents to South Beach” statement back in the summer, expectations were so high in Miami that anything less than spectacular is considered a failure. By his standards, LeBron is not enjoying a most valuable season. But pitted against the rest of the league LeBron’s … [Read more…]
Blake Griffin, welcome to the club. Even before the Los Angeles Clippers could put on their headbands and lace up their sneakers, they were greeted with devastating news when prized rookie, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft, Blake Griffin was found to have a stress fracture in his left knee and the … [Read more…]